Chapter 12: Into the Woods

Rachel’s ears shifted to the right as she heard the soldiers finally arrive at the pool with the dragon child, having to wheel her in a cart due to the kid’s unnatural weight. "Meh. I don’t care what most people think of me."

Her furrowed brow shot to Anthony as he snorted. "Bull!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," the handsome man said with a rather aggravating smirk. "You can’t stand being called a bunny. Heh, you totally care."

"It’s my Feat’s problem, not mine," she crisply returned, yet Zoe snickered at the comment, holding up a fist for the man to bump; it did make her tail stiffen a little that the pair were ganging up on her.

"Sure. Anyway, these are my Feats," he added, scribbling them down for Zoe to examine. "I don’t want to put anything in the equipped slots yet until we get a better understanding of these quests I have:"

* -- * -- *

Base Feats:

[Quest’s Draw X] - S-tier - Legendkin

* -- * -- *

[Beagalltach (Sealed) I] - S-tier - Diarmuid

[Gáe Buidhe (Sealed) I] - F-tier - Diarmuid

[Love Spot I] - F-tier - Diarmuid

[Heroic Endurance I] - F-tier - Diarmuid

[Darkness Vision I] - F-tier - Diarmuid

[Hero’s Temperament I] - F-tier - Diarmuid

* -- * -- *

[Polearm and Sword Mastery I] - F-tier - Spearman

[Martial Arts Mastery I] - F-tier - Spearman

* -- * -- *

Rachel got up upon hearing the explanation of each of his Feats; he was a weapons user, but also knew some basic martial arts. "Why don’t we test out this quest... Hmm?"

"Something wrong?" Anthony asked, moving to take his sword and strap his spear to his back with a leather attachment that appeared in a flash of green light.

"Yes," she muttered, drawing his and Zoe’s gaze as she listened to the report the Coast Guard gave to his CO; what he told his buddy snapped her attention in his direction.

"Sir, this is Private Conner; I’ve got eyes on an unusual glow inside the university pond. Requesting DV investigate. Over."

"Petty Officer Thomas, redirect a DV unit to the location with a firing squad; don’t take any chances. Out."

"Understood, Lieutenant."

The men listened to commands being given as they moved to get a better view of the illuminated zone. "Don’t...you think it looks like a cone-shaped crystal of some kind, and that blue tint is eerie, eh? It’s huge, too."

"Let’s wait for confirmation," his friend muttered. "It could be just the reflection of the moon playing with the water or some kind of effect the university put in place for a ’wow’ factor."

"Yeah..."

Tingles cascaded down Rachel’s spine; she wasn’t convinced it was some university light effect. "Zoe, you know those crystal gateways we talked about?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I think one was just discovered in the university pond."

"Shit. Umm. What should we do?! Is it just a countdown, or are they already here?"

Anthony flipped his sword around, passively listening as she gave them a brief overview of what the military had uncovered.

Rachel shrugged. "No one’s sure because information is still being compiled. We should hurry and test what one of these quests looks like. The vampire is being brought to this floor, as well...and they’re checking the rooms to make sure they’re clear now. If we can get more levels, we’ll be better prepared for whatever comes out... Heh."

"What now?" Zoe groaned. "We have a vampire and alien invasion already. What’s worse than that?"

Turning toward the east, Rachel forced a chuckle as the Coast Guard men set up the 50-caliber mounted turret and hoisted the dehydrated child into the pool.

"Eyes sharp, boys!" one grunted while getting her into the water.

The girl’s petite, weak voice was utterly monotone yet held a fervent undercurrent. "I really am a good dragon... I only beat up bad guys. I’ll protect everyone—you’ll see. I’m going to be a superhero, and we can work as a team to save people. I’m an awesome dragon! You’ll see... Yay, I’m not going to die—good work, boys. Easy... There we go, a little more..."

Slipping under the surface, it was the shouts that drew Rachel’s notice as an eruption of water dulled other sounds near the area.

"What the—"

"Aye! Aye!"

"Back up! Back up!"

"Sir?!"

"Fire! Fire!"

Bullets sprayed the water, causing screams and panic to spread through the facility at the sound of the guns, yet the commander swiftly called the assault off.

"Stop! Hold your fire, dammit! She’s not attacking us... Shit."

"Not a scratch..."

"S-She’s the size of a tank, sir!"

"Shit! Now that is terrifying—a little girl can turn into that?!"

Despite the panic, the girl only swam in slow circles before settling at the deep end of the pool to likely not further spook the soldiers; although, from her shifts in the water, Rachel wondered if she really was unharmed. If she didn’t know any better, the girl was pouting at the bottom of the pool, licking her wounds.

She kept her word about being a good dragon, though, even after they attacked her. The way the child talked reminded Rachel of Zoe’s bizarre references. She did have odd mannerisms: she spoke in a monotone while talking nerd-speak to the soldiers on their way to the facility.

"Erm, also...we have a water dragon mythickin girl in the pool; I’m not sure exactly what she is yet."

"Huh? Huh?! You’re only now telling us that?!" Zoe cried. "A freaking water dragon? What if she goes on a rampage when the aliens attack or picks a fight with the vampire?"

A curious smile lifted Rachel’s mouth as she listened to the cat-girl panic, probably thinking about some anime, manga, or movie.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I don’t know," Rachel laughed, motioning for Anthony to start the quest. "I just have a feeling that the vampire and dragon-girl aren’t our misfortune."

Ears twitching and head tilting to the side, Zoe mumbled, "Meaning?"

Anthony held his sword up, showing a golden glow before slipping it through space to create a shimmering, green line that opened into a dark forest—their quest location. "Meaning they’re not against us via your sense of misfortune, is my guess... This is insane; there really is a whole world that I can go to test my skills. Weird, but cool. We need to prepare for the attack, right?"

Rachel was surprised at how compliant Anthony was; then again, she was providing him answers. It seemed he just had to be sure he wasn’t causing his loved ones harm, and the hospital where his sick fiancé was could possibly be an attack location for the aliens if this crystal was big enough—he had motivation.

"We don’t even know if we can join you yet," Rachel said, stepping through the slit; her shoes touched the hard earth on the other side. "Heh. That answers that... Let’s go."

Zoe tentatively followed, whispering, "Please don’t die... No, I’d rather die than lose a leg or arm, so... No! I can be brave... Cats hunt things—even domestic cats—I can do this!"

"Attagirl," Anthony encouraged, bringing up the tail. "Uh..."

Rachel spun in a slow circle to get a complete understanding of the forest they’d entered, hearing the chirping of birds, growling of beasts, and snarls of small creatures. The slit in space sealed the second Anthony entered.

"Guess we’re stuck here until we complete the quest, which is..."

Anthony took note of their location while explaining their objective. "I have to slay twenty goblins, minimum... There’s supposed to be some kind of bonus depending on the kills, and a caravan will be somewhere nearby; if we protect it, we might get a reward."

Zoe puffed out a long stream of air. "Here’s to hoping it’s classical goblins and not how some more recent anime have depicted them... Yikes. Yeah, let’s hope for that. Uh, I’m going to stay close to you, Anthony—and please, for goodness sake, be careful of how you swing your sword in a cave if we find one..."

Rachel had no idea why that particular example came up, but swiftly identified the caravan and goblins. Now they had a decision to make: attack the goblins before they reached the caravan, and possibly not get the reward—the System didn’t give them items, meaning the people might—or walk with the caravan until they were attacked and defend it.

Decisions, decisions, Rachel mused to herself, illuminated red eyes scanning the eerie, night-embraced forest; she felt more like a hunter than a hero, but this was Anthony’s quest. Maybe we can split up... I’ve never killed anything before, not that I feel particularly against it at the moment, and this is the perfect environment to put these changes to the test.

Licking her lips, Rachel turned to give the cat-girl and redhead a smile. "Let’s split up. You two protect the caravan over...there. I have a few things I need to test."

Anthony shrugged, moving in the direction she’d pointed. "I suppose I need to put my trust in your ears at some point, and this is a good test. Coming, Zoe?"

"Eh, yeah... Are you sure, Rachel? Goblins can be...nasty in some tales."

The inviting, ominous hum of various creatures throughout the dark woods called to Rachel’s thumping heart more than she wanted to admit; this was her scene, and she could feel it in her bones. "Hmm-hmm. I’m sure, Zoe."

"Hehe. You have a...scary look on your face. Maybe I should be more worried about them? Anyways, good luck... Be safe!"

Rachel watched her run after Anthony, waiting not too far away with one hand in his pocket and the other gripping his short sword. She knew he’d been carefully observing every action she made, but Rachel didn’t care right now.